Tobi.com is Sending Out Ugly Boxes Looking for Love

Packaging innovation this is not, but we like the jocular spin Tobi.com is putting on its latest attempt to reduce its carbon footprint: Reusing shipping boxes and drawing attention to their less-than-pristine condition.

And the online fashion retailer doesn't mince words—these boxes are U-G-L-Y. (It says so on the stamp.) But that doesn't mean they're less deserving of your love. Photo credit: Tobi

Tobi, which offsets its emissions from utilities, air, travel, commuting, shipping and printing through Carbonfund, sends off its goods in boxes that comprise 30 percent recycled cardboard and 100 percent recycled packing material.

Boxes sent back to the Returns department in usable condition are stamped with "Love an Ugly Box" and reused to ship out a different order—a move that makes so much sense we wonder why it's not a more common practice. If green is the new black, can't ugly be the new beautiful?